Thursday, August 07, 2008

No, Really, I Can't Make This Stuff Up

In the comments to this post from yesterday about the sexual assault that took place recently outside the Regal Cinema in Newington (a posted "gun-free zone"), the question came up about what one should do if he finds himself at the front door of such an establishment, and is lawfully carrying a concealed weapon.

1. Carry anyway.2. Turn around and walk away.3. Politely inform theater management that you refuse to patronize any business that seeks to strip you of your right to self-defense.4. Secure firearm in your vehicle and return to theater.

And, then, as a humorous sidenote, I added option 5:

Of course, Sarah Brady would have everyone believe there are countless gun owners who would go with...

Option 5: Become enraged over the anti-killing machine signage, whip out your substitute penis, and mow down hundreds of moviegoers in a spray-fired fusillade of cop-killer bullets from your Saturday Night Special assault weapon.

Now, that was obviously written in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. I mean, no one could possibly be so idiotic as to insinuate that normal, law-abiding people, lawfully carrying concealed handguns for the purpose of personal protection, are just going to start shooting away, completely out of the blue, for no rational reason, whatsoever.

Right?

Well, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that as soon as you make something foolproof, it won't be long until a moron comes along and screws it all up.

Yes, real life has once again imitated my overactive imagination.

Here's Mishawaka, Indiana City Attorney Cory Hamel discussing a recently proposed, and subsequently defeated, city ordinance that would have banned pretty much any kind of weapon in a handful of local government buildings, including Mishawaka City Hall.

“What we're trying to do is prevent people who walkin with no agenda, but while he's inside with a gun,gets irate and may do something drastic.”

Allow me to translate: "There will be "Blood in the Streets"TM! And, this time - unlike the countless times before when this worn-out, imagination-based talking point had been regurgitated, but never realized - we mean it!"

Oh, and, the impetus behind this ordinance?

Hamel says he was concerned for city employees' safety when a man walked into city hall a few weeks ago with a gun in a holster with two extension clips, in addition to a billy club.

Hamel says he never threatened anyone, but he and Rea say this is a warning sign.

It sure is.

WARNING: The people of Mishawaka actually take their Constitutionally- protected rights seriously and aren't about to roll over when faced with the threat of violence or totalitarian government officials with hyperactive imaginations.

Also...

Mayor Jeff Rea and City Attorney Cory Hamel, proponents of the weapons ban ordinance, feel city employees would be best protected if only on and off-duty police officers were allowed weapons in busy city buildings.

Heavy emphasis on "feel".

And, of course, we already know how that misguided philosophy plays out in the real world, when only the police are lawfully allowed to carry personal sidearms.

[Some who spoke in opposition to the ordinance] say if a person wants to pull out a gun and shoot, they will. It happened at a city hall meeting in Missouri in February. Five people were killed, including police officers and city officials.

Maybe Mr. Hamel could ask those five people how they were "feeling" as they were being murdered in their "gun-free zone" government building.

What it is...

Opinion and commentary, garnished with a sprig of cynicism, served with a heaping side order of sarcasm, and washed down with a tall glass of common sense, by a gun-toting political refugee from the People's Progressive Republic of Massachusetts, currently residing in New Hampshire and doing what he can to keep the Granite State beautiful and free.